Morisaka, Tadamichi http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7051-3184
Furuichi, Tomo
Kogi, Kazunobu
Yoshioka, Motoi
Funding for this research was provided by:
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (18K05782)
Article History
Received: 5 April 2022
Accepted: 21 January 2023
First Online: 1 March 2023
Declarations
:
: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
: This study was conducted in accordance with voluntary regulatory rules for sustainable dolphin swimming programs developed by program operators on Mikura Island. Mikurashima Village granted permission to enter the protected sea area around Mikura Island. The Mikurashima Tourism Association approved all the research protocols for underwater observations. To minimize disturbance, we followed a noninvasive approach for observation in accordance with the Guidelines to Study Wild Animals of the Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University. In most cases, the dolphins did not exhibit unusual behavior during our observations. We did not use scuba tanks, never attempted to touch the dolphins, and never fed them.